“We will enter into discussions with city districts with the goal of naming a prominent street or square after Helmut Kohl.” This unadorned sentence appears in the coalition agreement that was signed by the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and center-left Social Democrats (SPD), who have been governing the city-state of Berlin since April 2023. However, the document does not provide any explanation for the shared intention.
Now, two and a half years later, Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has officially announced the exact location in the German capital where Helmut Kohl (CDU), who served as the federal chancellor from 1982 to 1998, is to be honored: on the centrally located Hofjägerallee. “It is a big street for a mighty man to whom we owe a great deal,” said Wegner, in explanation of the renaming process that is now underway.
Everything you need to know about German reunification
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Kohl, who died in 2017 at the age of 87, is considered the key architect of German reunification on October 3, 1990. Less than three weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, he presented his 10-point plan to the German Bundestag to reunite the country that had been divided into East and West since 1949. The majority of the German population shared in this desire. But in order to fulfill the plan, the victorious powers of World War II —the US, UK, France and the Soviet Union—also had to be convinced.
It didn’t take long for Kohl, who held a doctorate in history, to overcome widespread reservations about reunification. His greatest achievement was securing the Kremlin’s approval in personal talks with reformist communist Mikhail Gorbachev. This was a prerequisite for successful negotiations between the two German states and the Allies, who had forced Nazi Germany to surrender unconditionally in May 1945 after six years of war.
Known as the Two Plus Four Treaty, the agreement was signed in Moscow on September 12, 1990. Twenty-one days later, Germany celebrated its reunification. Berlin, divided by a wall since 1961, once again became the capital of Germany. And on the third anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Helmut Kohl was awarded honorary citizenship of Berlin for his accomplishments.
Helmut Kohl: From the province to the world stage
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A tarnished reputation
However, Berlin still lacked a public display of appreciation for the politician. One of the main reasons for this may have been the dark shadow cast over Kohl’s political career in 1999: revelations about the illegal CDU donations scandal, for which he himself was largely responsible. According to criminal investigations and media reports, the party had been keeping slush funds in Switzerland since at least the 1980s.
After initially denying the allegations, Kohl largely admitted to them and took political responsibility for the mistakes made in the CDU’s finances during his term in office. He admitted to accepting what today would be the equivalent of €1.1 million ($1.3 million) in undisclosed and therefore illegal party donations that were not recorded in his party’s accounts. The funds were paid in the form of the currency in use at the time, the German Mark (DM), before the changeover to the European single currency, the euro.
Although the names of numerous alleged donors were circulated, including private individuals and companies, Kohl himself remained silent on the matter until the end of his life. He said he had given them his word of honor not to reveal their names. But he said that he did not himself feel guilty of violating the law or the Constitution.
The CDU, which Kohl had chaired from 1973 to 1998, distanced itself from him. Two years later, he resigned from his position as honorary chairman. His political career ended in 2002 as a regular member of the Bundestag.
Kohl as Angela Merkel’s mentor
The inglorious end of the era also marked the beginning of the rise of the next CDU Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Kohl’s former protege. Merkel’s term in office — from 2005 to 2021 — lasted just as long as that of her predecessor: Sixteen years.
Then, four years after the death of her political mentor, Merkel stepped down from the political stage. And now, 35 years after German reunification, the time has come for a Helmut Kohl Avenue in Berlin.
Unlike in other cases, renaming the street should be easy because no one lives on the approximately 420-meter-long Hofjägerallee. This rules out any lawsuits, because according to a court ruling, this right is reserved exclusively for residents.
The Hofjägerallee, a multi-lane road off the Großer Stern, the central square in Tiergarten, is to be named after Helmut KohlImage: Bernd Settnik/ZB/picture alliance
Within sight of the Victory Column and Brandenburg Gate
Whether Kohl would be satisfied with the location of the street that will be named after him remains a matter of speculation. One reason it would be is its location off the Großer Stern, the central square in Tiergarten. In the middle of the square stands the 67-meter-high 19th-century Victory Column, which is crowned by a gilded statue of Victoria.
It is one of Germany’s most important national monuments and commemorates the so-called Wars of Unification, which led to the founding of the German Empire in 1871. All of this, it seems, would have suited Kohl, who was a great lover of history. And the four multi-lane roads leading away from the Victory Column have plenty of history to offer. This is especially true when looking east: This is where the Brandenburg Gate stands, the most important symbol of German reunification.
Anyone strolling a few hundred meters further south along the soon-to-be-named Helmut Kohl Avenue will come across international embassies as well as the CDU party headquarters, named after the first German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. Kohl would have likely been pleased by that, too.
Although the late chancellor of German reunification would have likely preferred that his name adorn the southern half of the street as well, since 1961, the street has been named after Gustav Klingelhöfer. And he, after all, was a Social Democrat.
This article was originally written in German.
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